Take a Ride With Me
by scorpclaw
Summary: Contains SonJet yaoi. Things haven't been going for Jet in his life. He has basically quit racing, and now there is a huge hole in his life. Perhaps an ex-rival can help.


Take a Ride With Me

SonJet

For one of my dedicated readers: The Father Confessor

Jet was still a young hawk, and everyone can honestly say that he has already lived an adventurous life. At only the age of 14, he has found his calling in racing on Extreme Gear and has even discovered the backstory of his ancestry, who were also known to be big racers. At only the age of 14, he has faced off against many of the fastest racers in the universe, even the world renowned Sonic the Hedgehog. At only the age of 14, he has created a certain amount of fame for himself as the leader of Team Babylon.

However, things have changed since his many races with Sonic the Hedgehog and his discovery of the Ark of the Cosmos. It has been three years since that time, and Jet has made some life-changing decisions that ultimately led to the end of the career. Though, even through a slight amount of hardship, at the age of 17, Jet can now be considered to be a completely changed hawk. For the better.

On a warm Spring day, Jet the Hawk was finally going to be able to show how much he has changed over the years. He took his Extreme Gear out for a joy ride and enjoyed the great amount of wind that brushed up against his feathers. It was that feeling that got him immediately interested in the art of racing. It was a good feeling.

He rode his gear for only a half hour, eventually riding it over Green Hill Zone. Jet thought to himself why that name and area was familiar to him, but he didn't quite know what it was, so he just kept on riding his gear through the sky. Though, the answer came to him in the form of a blue hedgehog who was simply walking below where he was riding. Jet didn't notice him at the first, but when he finally scanned the ground he was actually shocked to see his old foe.

He was actually so shocked about seeing Sonic again that he was brought completely off guard and he lost control of his gear. He started going in weird directions until Jet lost his connection to his Extreme Gear and started falling straight into the ground. The impact was pretty hard, but it wasn't as hard as Jet thought it would be. He got up slowly from the ground, hoping that he didn't break anything since he was pretty far from home. Thankfully, though, there was actually someone there in the vicinity that was able to help him up from the fall.

"Jet," the blue hedgehog said in a somewhat confused tone. Sonic was just as surprised of Jet's presence as Jet was of his. He approached the struggling hawk and attempted to help him up, though Jet seemed to be fine getting up on his own.

As soon as Jet was up on his feet, he looked up to see that Sonic was looking at him with a look that seemed to have concern and maybe even worry. "Don't worry, Sonic," Jet said, trying to keep a confident tone. "I'm alright."

"Heh… that was a pretty big fall, Jet."

"Yeah, well, I just lost control of my gear. It happens to every racer." Jet attempted to stand up straight, but the pain in his back was bad and it forced him to stay in an awkward crooked position.

"Are you sure you're okay, Jet? My house is not too far from here. I can have Tails give you something for the pain or something."

"I told you, hedgehog. Don't worry about me. Besides, I have to get home before, uh… yeah. I just have to get home."

Sonic smirked. "Fine, it looks like you're in a hurry like you always are. I guess I'm like you in that sense."

Jet simply rolled his eyes, getting somewhat uncomfortable with being in the presence of one of his foes. "Yeah. Goodbye." Jet went over to a nearby tree where his Extreme Gear ended up landing. He proceeded to get on it and attempted to fly away.

For the first seconds, he felt that the ride was pretty smooth. Though, he then tried to stand up straight on his board and his back ended up breaking out in extraordinary pain that forced him to crouch down again. When he did, though, he lost control of his Extreme Gear again, causing him to fall again. Luckily he wasn't at as great of a height as his last fall, so it didn't hurt as much.

Sonic walked over to where Jet had fallen, crossed his arms, and smiled. "Oh yeah, you're fine, alright. Just come with me to my house. I'll give you something to eat or something."

Jet slowly got up, ignoring the pain from doing so. He didn't really like succumbing to anyone, especially people that are supposed to be his enemies. Though, he knew that Sonic meant well when he offered him hospitality. "Fine. But the minute I feel better, I getting on my Gear and getting the heck away from here."

"Yeah, well we'll see how that goes. Let's go."

Sonic walked at a slower pace than he normally did towards his home since he knew that Jet wasn't all that quick on the ground. Jet followed closely behind him without making any attempts to talk to him or make eye contact. He almost felt ashamed that he was being pitied like this, despite the amount of bad things that he had never done to Sonic. It was almost… depressing.

"So, Jet… if you haven't noticed, it's been a while since we talked last. What's been happening with you lately?"

Jet did a low smirk and replied, "I would say that it's none of your business, hedgehog, but it's not like I have any point in ignoring you."

Sonic chuckled briefly. "No, you don't. Might as well make things easier for you and just answer some of my questions. This walk will be quiet and awkward if you don't."

Jet rolled his eyes. "You sound like a cop that's interrogating me. Whatever. Nothing much has been happening for me in the past few years. I'm not racing as much as I used to." Jet wanted to talk about the whole story of his bad past, but he simply felt uncomfortable with talking about it with Sonic. After all, the last time that they saw each other, racing was basically Jet's life.

Sonic gave Jet a confused look. "What could you be doing that's not racing? You pretty much do it all the time."

"I don't know. I guess… I don't like it as much as I used to anymore."

Sonic couldn't help but feel shocked. He understands the concept that people will generally outgrow what they like eventually, but Jet was still young and flying and racing was absolutely his calling. "I'm kind of surprised that you say that."

"Well… it doesn't matter, Sonic. I got bored of doing it, so I kind of just stopped doing it."

Sonic just imagined what it would be like if just one day he stopped running because he was "bored" with it. He almost thought that such a thing was impossible for someone as active as he was. "Alright, I guess that kind of stinks, but at least you're not doing something that you think is boring."

"Yeah, some things have to change sometimes."

Sonic didn't bother asking Jet anymore questions. After the few years of not seeing him, Sonic began noticing that he wasn't exactly himself. He didn't seem quite as competitive as he used to be, and he just seemed less arrogant and quieter.

The two of them simply continued walking to Sonic's house in silence. After a few minutes, they finally arrived at the house. It was two stories and it was large enough to fit Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.

Sonic opened up the door and allowed Jet to come inside. "Here we are, home sweet home." Jet took a few steps inside and took a look inside the few rooms that were in his range of view. He thought it was a nice home… at least, compared to his home now. Though, seeing it like this made him smile. He got rid of the smile as soon as Sonic faced him.

"It's a nice place… I guess," Jet said hesitantly. He wanted to let Sonic know that he felt welcomed.

"Thanks. Knuckles, Tails, and I worked for a long time on it, and it turned out kind of nice." Sonic paused for a brief moment and looked at Jet's expression. He almost seemed like a child who was brought into a completely different world. A wonderful world. Sonic couldn't help but smirk at this expression.

Jet looked over at Sonic and asked, "What are you smirking about?"

Sonic wiped the smile away from his face and responded, "Nothing, don't worry about it. Would you like something to eat? I have a pizza somewhere in the house. All you would have to do is just heat it up for a little bit."

Jet was going to respond with a simple no, because he didn't want to intrude on Sonic's home for too long, but then his stomach said otherwise. He looked up at his stomach rumbled savagely.

Sonic smiled and said, "Never mind. Your stomach spoke for you. I'll be right back with that pizza, okay?"

Jet nodded his head and Sonic left the room. While Sonic was in the kitchen, Jet decided to explore the home in its entirety. He first checked out the living room, which had a decent-sized TV in it and a few comfortable-looking couches. He then went through a few other doors, checking out a bathroom, a laundry room, and what looked to be some kind of guest room.

Though, these rooms didn't intrigue him as much as the three main bedrooms. He first went into Knuckles room and noticed that it was mostly red. He knew that Knuckles was narcissistic, but not this much. He only briefly looked at the door from inside the doorway and then left to check out Tails' room. Tails' room was plain with white walls and a cream-colored carpet. Though, it was kind of messy since there were small parts of some kind of invention lying around everywhere. He didn't like looking at this mess, because it reminded him too much of Wave and her several inventions.

He exited Tails room and then found another door that he just assumed led to Sonic's room. Upon opening the door, Jet discovered that he was right and came into a pretty vibrant room. Although the color choices for the walls and carpet were similar to that of Tails', there were still things that gave Sonic's room a little bit of style. There were blue bed covers for a pretty grand bed and there were pictures of racers all over each wall.

Upon examining each picture, he found that he actually recognized some of the racers that they portrayed. He looked at each one individually, taking a gander at each bio that detailed each racer's racing style and their accomplishments. He was just about done with looking at all of them when he finally came across a picture that was extremely familiar to him: himself.

Jet took a look around the room and noticed that there wasn't a picture of Wave and Storm anywhere. Just him. He took a look at his own personal bio.

"Jet the Hawk is the leader of Team Babylon. He is deserving of the term 'leader' for being one of the fastest fliers in all of Mobius, even beating the world-renowned Sonic the Hedgehog in one of his races. He is truly a bird worth watching for, because if you even blink, you may just miss him."

The picture then continued to talk about his many accomplishments and the many things that he has won. It brought back pretty good memories.

"I see you found my room."

Jet quickly turned his head to notice that Sonic was standing at the doorway with a slick smile on his face. "I didn't mean to go through your room," Jet said apologetically. "I was just a little curious."

"It's alright, Jet. I would've probably been curious myself if I went through a house like this one," Sonic said semi-arrogantly.

"Yeah." Jet paused and swallowed some saliva before continuing. "Hey, Sonic. Why am I up here but not Storm and Wave?"

"I only put true racers on this wall, mainly those who can actually beat me in a race. As much as I think Wave's technical skills are good, she and Storm aren't true racers."

"You think I'm a true racer? Even after all the things I have done?"

"Of course, Jet. You may have cheated or did something stupid, but you're still a great racer." Sonic paused and thought for a moment. "Which is why I'm surprised that you're now just bored of racing and that you just don't want to do it anymore."

"I told you. Some people move on."

Sonic shook his head. "Not you. Not Jet the Hawk. You aren't just some quitter who just gets bored of something that you are not only born to do, but something that you enjoy. You are way better than that."

Jet tried to hold back his fury. He didn't like being called a quitter, even though that that was exactly what he was at that point. "Well… I've changed alright. I'm not the same hawk that you met a little while ago, okay?"

Sonic's smiled left his face. "Alright. Uh… your pizza is ready downstairs, okay?"

Jet nodded and Sonic left the room. Jet sighed a little, because he knew that Sonic was right. Flying was his calling and basically his "destiny". Though, after Team Babylon separated and Jet was left to fend for himself, he has lost all faith in himself as a racer. Though, perhaps another incredibly fast racer could show him what its like to 'feel the air' again.

Jet finally got over himself and decided to head downstairs again and into the kitchen where he saw Sonic and a couple slices of pizza waiting for him.

"It's just cheese pizza. I hope that's okay with you."

Jet shook his head and responded, "It's fine. No big deal." He then sat down across from Sonic and picked up a warm slice of pizza. A little bit of cheese ended up hanging off of the sides, but Jet didn't mind too much. He took a small bite of the pizza and began chewing. He was actually surprised on how much he liked it, though it was probably because he doesn't get a lot of money to buy good food like this.

Jet briefly put down the slice of pizza as he slowly chewed and savored the pizza. He expected Sonic to look up at him and ask 'Do you like it?' but he didn't get any such question. On the contrary, Sonic was actually frowning a little as Jet ate. Jet knew exactly why, and he was feeling the same way too.

"Sonic, can I just… tell you something?"

Sonic lifted his head and made eye contact with Jet. "Sure, what's up?"

"I'm not bored of the whole racing thing. I actually split from Team Babylon 3 years ago and we haven't as much as spoken to each other since then. I don't want to talk about why we aren't together anymore either. It's because of our separation that I kind of… changed my life and stopped racing altogether, mainly because I didn't have a team to race with, or someone to build me new Gear, or someone to call me 'boss' anymore." Jet was actually going to continue, but he was getting choked up and a tear actually fled his eye. A real tear.

Sonic couldn't help but stare as the tear went off of his beak and trailed into his feathers. He would've never thought that Jet would cry even a little. And it only got worse as more tears followed the first one. Sonic went to comfort his deteriorating friend. He held him in his arms and told him that everything was fine.

Jet felt kind of comfortable being in Sonic's arms. He hadn't been in someone's arms in such a long time, even when he was apart of Team Babylon. It was a good feeling to be loved and cared for and it only took him 17 years to figure out that he wanted it more than anything. "Sonic… I miss Wave and Storm. I miss the adrenaline, I miss the racing, I miss the trophies. I miss everything about it. I fly around on my Gear finding nothing."

Jet wiped away a few tears from his beak and then finally said, "I'm so pathetic, aren't I? Going to my ex-rival's house so that he can feed me and comfort me as I cry my eyes out."

"You're not as pathetic as you think you are, Jet? The old Jet wouldn't have even come with me to my home. He would've just left on his Extreme Gear, falling every few seconds. The new Jet is smart, not pathetic."

"Yeah, but the new Jet is never going to any of that racing stuff back."

Sonic simply smiled in response. "Don't be dumb, Jet. I'm here for you all the way and you are going to get that racing stuff back." Sonic stood up and reached his hand out in hopes that Jet would grab it. "Tails still makes Extreme Gears and he has improved on them for 3 years now. They're still new because we don't do a lot of flying racing anymore, so I would like to ask… would you like to take a ride with me?"

Jet didn't need wait long before nodding his head and accepting Sonic's ride. He took his hand and Sonic led him out to the garage. Just like Tails' room, there were several inventions lying all over the ground and all over the tables. Though, the invention that Sonic was truly interested in was the Extreme Gears that Tails had in the corner. Sonic grabbed his personal one and took Jet with him outside.

They went outside and Sonic put the Extreme Gear on the ground.

"Is that going to fit the both of us," Jet simply asked.

Sonic stepped onto the Extreme Gear and gestured for him to do the same. "Why don't you come on and find out?"

Jet smiled and stepped onto the Gear. Sonic pressed a switch that allowed him to take control of the Gear. As soon as the Gear went one foot off of the ground, Jet quickly gripped Sonic's lower chest and waist in hopes that he wouldn't fall off. He normally is comfortable on a Gear, but that's when he is in control of it.

Sonic then propelled the Gear forward and the two of them then began to feel the wind against their face. It was just like any ordinary ride for Jet, but this time, he was with Sonic. This made everything entirely different for him.

Jet got to see Sonic's smiling face as the Gear picked up more and more speed. It was such a serene feeling. He couldn't help himself from smiling.

That is when a thought hit him. He hadn't been this happy in a very long time, even when he was on Team Babylon. He felt like he could do this for the rest of his life without feeling unusual or strange. He liked the feeling that Sonic is giving him right now, and he wanted to keep that feeling.

Despite Sonic being the pilot, Jet decided to turn Sonic around and… gave him a long and amazing kiss on the lips. At first, Sonic was shocked by the kiss, but then he got into it. Though, while he was thinking of Jet and the kiss, he began to lose control of the Gear and they began tumbling towards the ground, immediately ending their kiss.

The two of them fell out of the Gear, side-by-side. They both hit the ground pretty hard. Sonic was fine from the impact and was left with only minor wounds, but Jet had difficulty because this was his third time falling in only a couple of hours. He wanted to be back on the Gear with Sonic, but he knew he couldn't in his condition.

Though, something amazing happened for Jet. Sonic got up from his fall and went over to Jet. Jet kind of thought that Sonic was going to be upset with him for kissing him and making them crash, but another thing happened. Sonic knelt down on the ground and returned Jet's kiss.

The feeling of flying is an extravagant one. You can feel the air and adrenaline from flying and it just makes everything feel good. If you're ever sad, just take a ride and it can also make you feel better. Though, if you share a ride with somebody, then that's when happiness is truly real.

Jet's happiness is, in the first time in his life, truly real.


End file.
